Two new mines east of Estero a possibility, still in application process

Estero is a village in south Lee County, Florida. Learn more about the community.
Maryann Batlle/Naples Daily News via Wochit

The lawyer for a developer pushing a 1,400 unit development on Corkscrew Road says some current residents are to blame for the road's current traffic problems.(Photo: NEWS-PRESS STAFF FILE PHOTO/KINFAY MOROTI)

Two mines might open just east of Estero. if they do open, the mines could add hundreds of truck trips a day to Interstate 75.

Two companies are working to permit lime rock mines off State Road 82 near its intersection with Corkscrew Road.

Limerock is used as aggregate, a material that makes concrete structures and roadway material.

Old Corkscrew Plantation, which at present is the site citrus farming, has sought to permit 1,837 of its 4,200-acre site for mining.

Both the village of Estero and Lee County are aware of traffic problems on Corkscrew Road, Village Councilor Jim Wilson said.

“The road is close to max capacity to the east of (Interstate 75),” he said. “Any more things would just compound the problem.”

The Old Corkscrew Plantation proposal states it would only use State Road 82 to access I-75 and avoid the congested Corkscrew Road.

Troyer Bros, based in Lee County, also has applications filed to change its potato farm into a lime rock mine.

The Old Corkscrew Plantation permit will go before the Lee County Hearing Examiner on Jan. 31.

The hearing examiner is tasked with reviewing the best land use and development decisions and then provides an opinion to the Lee County Commissioners, who would ultimately approve or deny a mining permit.

These mines are not the best use of land, said Pete Cangialosi, environmental director of the Estero Council of Community Leaders, a nonprofit citizen group.

“In the Lee County comprehensive plan, it designates certain areas where mining is authorized, generally along Alico Road north of Corkscrew Road,” said Cangialosi. “These two mines are well outside that area.”

Even though the mine applications state that heavy trucks would not use Corkscrew Road, Cangialosi said he doubts that all drivers would follow the rules.

“Trucks with southbound loads will find it easier to take Corkscrew,” he said. “You don’t have to take any dangerous left-hand turns. It makes sense if it’s a clear run. It’s hundreds and hundreds of trips per day. Not everyone will go down Corkscrew, but even a third — that’s just gigantic.”

The county is investigating widening the roadway between I-75 and Alico Road by 2026.

Once a mine is created, it cannot go back to a natural state, Cangialosi explained.

“It’s irreversible,” he said. “You cannot do anything other than build houses around a great big lake.”

That shift to residential is already a possibility on another area mine.

The Bonita Grande Mine off Terry Street is a currently operational mine. The 1,268-acre lime rock mine has been open since the 1980s. It can continue mining until 2025 with its current permits.

However, local residential and commercial developer Oakbrook Properties purchased the mine in 2016 and has stated plans to renovate the land into a subdivision.

Current Bonita Springs zoning plans do not allow a large home development on the land. BG Mine LLC sued the city, claiming a previous city council promised to change the growth plans in a 2003 annexation agreement to allow a development.

The case is still in court.

The mine acknowledges traffic concerns by reminding truck drivers to stay off of the two-lane Terry Street and only take Bonita Grande Drive to Bonita Beach Road and I-75.